One Way or The Other

Chapter 1: The Birdsong Competition

  It was a beautiful day in Equestria, especially in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. Everything was marvellous! Wired Fix was running through the park, a note was flying in his magic. He was focused. He had to reach Fluttershy’s cottage before it was too late. The path was clear the whole way, which is really rare to see on such a sunny day. Wired Fix was just about to cross the river when Angel came jumping over the bridge, eating a carrot. Wrong place at the wrong time, he was easily thrown into the water.

  ”Sorry, Angel!” Wired Fix yelled and shot a magic orb to lift Angel and the now soggy carrot out of the water. As you may imagine, Angel was now back in his grumpy mood.

  The cottage was just one small forest away. Wired Fix couldn’t stop for a moment, his message being so important. Right when he was about to enter the forest, he noticed Rainbow Dash practicing at maneuvering between the trees. A lot of trees were damaged by crashes.

  ”Hey, Dashie!” he shouted after her. ”Could you give me a lift to Fluttershy’s cottage? It’s a little urgent!”

  Rainbow looked around, causing her to crash into another tree. This time breaking it down.

  ”Oh, look who’s here!” she smiled and flew towards Wired Fix. ”What’s the emergency, sweetheart?”

  ”Cut the flirting, and give me a lift,” he replied with a slight scoff. ”You know I’m not interested.”

  ”Yeah yeah,” Rainbow laughed and picked him up. She carried him to Fluttershy’s cottage and put him down excessively gently.

  “There you go! One trip to Fluttershy. Now, how about you make it even with a little…visit at my house? We could chill out, maybe eat some muffins.” Her smile was sweet. Wired Fix didn’t feel like doing anything at her house, not even just eating.

  “Well, thanks for the lift, Rainbow,” he said and brushed his coat. “But here, just to make you happy.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. She was stunned. Her wings flapped twice, maybe even three times as fast.

  “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gooosh!” she stammered and fell to the ground. “I will never let you get away, sweetheart.”

  Wired Fix rolled his eyes before running towards Fluttershy’s front door.

  He knocked on the door a few times. The door was recently painted, so he got red paint on his hoof, which he wiped off on the grass. Fluttershy opened the door slowly, shivering a little. Her mane was a different style than usual, although it was nor an improvement or a ruin.

  “Oh, um…Hello…” she whispered. “Is there anything going on?”

  “You bet there is!” Wired Fix replied quickly and showed her the note. “The birdsong competition is today! And it’s starting in ten minutes!”

  Fluttershy’s eyes opened widely in a snap, and her mane changed into something electrocuted-like style.

  “Oh dear!” she shouted. “W-we must hurry, then. Angel…” She interrupted herself at the look of a wet, grumpy rabbit stomping through the front door, dragging a soggy carrot behind him. He glared at Fluttershy, sighed and lifted his ears.

  “Oh good, you’re here,” she said and smiled carefully at Angel. “Gather the bird choir, and send them to the Town Square. We need to hurry, the competition is starting in less than ten minutes!”

  She ran out the door towards the Town Square. Wired Fix was almost pushed over and into a pond, but managed to regain his balance.

  “Oh, poor Fluttershy,” he sighed and walked toward the Town Square himself.

  “Why don’t you just fly over the forest?”

  The Town Square was crowded. Well, at least more crowded that it usually is. A lot of ponies had gathered to watch the songbirds sing in choirs, quartets and even duos. As expected, Mayor Mare was also there to watch, but not introduce nor judge. The judges’ table was placed a little lower than the stage, and covered with a nice, light green tablecloth. This year’s judges were represented by one pegasus, one unicorn and one earth pony.

  The show was almost ready to start, only Fluttershy was not there. Everypony started to chatter in worry, but luckily, Fluttershy came running at the last second. She looked exhausted, which is unlikely for a pegasus, at least of her age. Everything was now ready.

  “Fillies and gentlecolts!” the announcer called in a presumptuous, but kind tone. “Welcome to the fifteenth annual birdsong competition, this year here in good old Ponyville. Let’s introduce you to this year’s three might I say marvellous judges!”

  Everypony applauded as the spotlights were pointed at the judges one at a time.

  “From the sunny, wonderful Cloudsdale, we have Spitfire from the Wonderbolts!”

  Spitfire waved at the crowd, sending a reassuring wink.

  “And from this nice, rustic town of Ponyville, we have got a local warm-heart joining us! And don’t worry. We have learned the lesson from our Pinkie Pie experience.”

  Some ponies phewed in relief. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was slightly offended.

  “Give a good applause to Big McIntosh!”

  Big Mac smiled at the audience, and greeted them with a “Yup.”

  “And finally, from the glorious city of Canterlot, the very castle, to be precise, we have been honoured to have the presence of Princess Luna!”

  All ponies bowed politely as the princess of the night smiled and waved to the crowd.

  “We are honoured to be here,” Princess Luna said. “And by that, I mean the three of us. Not like the Royal Canterlot voice. It’s getting old.”

  Everypony laughed with her.

  “So, with no further ado, let’s get this competition on! I’m Hoity Toity, and I will be your host.”

  First up was Roseluck with her quartet of canary birds. She had really prepared, she had even brought props resembling a forest, a town and heaven. She called the opera “Tomorrow”. It really touched the judges. For the first time, at least Wired Fix’s first time, Big McIntosh cried. No wonder why Hoity Toity called him warm-hearted. Luna’s reaction was easier, it was just a satisfied smile and a nod. Spitfire nodded and sent another wink.

It must be a tic or something.

  Next up was Twilight Sparkle with her Owlowicious. He was supposed to sing Ponyville’s fifty years old anthem. That didn’t go quite well, as Twilight had taught him Cloudsdale’s war tune instead. Yes, it is quite odd to find out Cloudsdale had a war tune.

  Luna wasn’t actually impressed by the mistake, but gave Twilight and Owlowicious a few points for the tune being sung correctly. Spitfire clapped and smiled really widely, since tunes with beats interest her more than slow, dramatic operas. At least she didn’t wink this time. Big Mac closed his eyes, shook his head and just said “Nope.”

  After a series of spring melodies, classical tunes and forest tragedies, it was finally Fluttershy’s turn with her bird choir. They were going to surprise the crowd this year, she had said. Wired Fix lifted an eyebrow when he saw Fluttershy carrying an amplifier up on the stage. I mean, seriously? Birds are just supposed to sing so everypony can hear, not have their voices made louder artificially. He decided to go and take a look.

  Behind the stage were a few cables, a mixing board and a battery. It didn’t look like something cute, little Fluttershy would use. What was she up to? Wired Fix turned around when Fluttershy came up behind him.

  “Oh, um…hello,” Fluttershy said and blushed. “Shouldn’t you be out there, listening to my birds?”

  “Actually,” Wired Fix replied. “I was hoping to find out why in Equestria you’re setting up an amplifier, and have cables going back here. It sure doesn’t look like your kind of props.”

  “Oh, that,” she replied and blushed again. “It’s part of the surprise.” She smiled faintly.

  “Well then,” Wired Fix said and turned around. “Just be careful, ok?”

He went back to the crowd.

  The bird choir was all set. The three judges were excited, waiting for this rather unusual prop design to be used. Spitfire looked the most excited, no surprise. Wired Fix went back to his spot in the crowd, right next to Mayor Mare. She looked at him, a little curious.

  “Um, excuse me sir,” Mayor Mare started and cleared her throat. “Could you please tell me, just out of curiosity, what you were doing behind the scene?”

  Wired Fix didn’t respond to that. He was too focused on trying to find out why Fluttershy would use such…technical stuff. She’s too natural.

  Fluttershy stepped out on the stage, with a microphone of some sort in her mouth. She placed it on a rack before bowing towards the audience.

  “Um, hi…everypony,” she started, and looked at the crowd. “I’m going to…um…show you something I…um…came up with a few days ago. H-hope you enjoy it.”

  Everypony was clapping as Fluttershy turned towards the bird choir. Wired Fix threw a last look at the amplifier before snapping out of it, and focusing on Fluttershy’s birds.

  The birds started singing. Just a normal birdsong, with a slightly melodic variation. Big Mac smiled and nodded in the same rhythm as the song. Princess Luna was really impressed, she did the same thing. Spitfire, however, just sat there and smiled politely. This was going really nice and calmly. Wired Fix was surprised. The amplifier was not in use. Neither were the microphone, cables or mixing board! But remember the old saying: Never assume anything.

  Before anypony got a chance to react, Fluttershy jumped towards the microphone and started singing herself. And in a Heavy Metal-style! The bird choir backed her up as background vocal. Suddenly, the scene was filled with smoke, and Fluttershy crawled together. Ponies were starting to mumble together as a reaction to that rather unusual act. When she straightened out again, her mane was combed backwards. Her tail was no longer soft and wavy. It had turned spiky. And she had a cape, black as the darkest of nights. As the smoke faded, the new character had taken its place on the stage.

  “Ponies of Equestria,” Fluttershy said in a dark, cold voice. “Prepare for a new pony to take the place of your beloved Fluttershy. Prepare for…Shutterfly!”

  The figure on the stage was terrifying! She looked like a dark, almost evil version of herself. Her mane made her look emo, her tail made her look electric. And that cape…It was almost as she was a Shadowbolt!

  With the audience, especially Mayor Mare and the judges, totally shocked, a shockwave of sound boomed out of the amplifier! It was so powerful, Wired Fix was knocked over, and banged his head on a blunt rock.

  As he opened his eyes, all he could see was a blurry, distorted image of everypony running around, scared by Fluttershy’s presentation. He could make out the silhouette of Minuette hiding under a bench, Lyra and Bon Bon holding each other tightly, Doctor Whooves running into a big, blue box… Everything was a complete mess, before he blacked out again.

  When the dust had settled, and the sun had lowered behind the trees, Wired Fix woke up again. He was still very dizzy, and he had got a real headache. But at least he could see.

  The Town Square was a complete mess. Trees were broken down, the fountain was smashed, even the Town Hall had been damaged. All this because of…of… For some reason, he couldn’t remember anything of what had happened! I mean, he did remember the transformation, the chaos and the silhouettes. But still, he kind of couldn’t work out what he had gone through, so it was unclear.

  “I better get over to Nurse Redheart quickly,” he said and trotted to the hospital, one hoof on his forehead. “I might be even more damaged than I know.”

  Before long, he had managed to get to the hospital, where Nurse Redheart ran a few tests.

  “Those are some really great fractures you’ve got there, mister!” she said and pointed at an X-ray photo. “You are going nowhere before that heals. Get some rest.”

  She left the room before giving him a chance to reply. He lay down on the bed, hoping Fluttershy was okay, after that way too strong show.